Collapsing under snow, Worcester three-decker is razed

WORCESTER — The weight of snow on the roof on three-decker at 142 Eastern Ave. led to a near collapse and eventual demolition of the 122-year-old three-family house.

Firefighters were called to Eastern Avenue early Wednesday afternoon after a resident living across the street noticed that the vacant house appeared to be collapsing. Firefighters arriving discovered that the roof had collapsed onto the ceiling of the third floor, pushing the two sides out and causing some debris to fall to the ground.

District Fire Chief Mike Lavoie said the building was vacant but not abandoned. Firefighters escorted residents out of nearby buildings and blocked off the street. As residents were being moved from the buildings, some became unruly, but eventually complied and moved to a safer area.

The damage to the top floor of the building was significant, and officials from the city's Inspectional Services division and the Fire Department agreed it needed to come down.

"This is unsalvageable," Chief Lavoie said as he waited for heavy equipment to be brought to demolish the building.

Late in the afternoon, an excavating machine was brought in and a crew quickly tore the building down.

Chief Lavoie said the collapse was the first the city has seen this winter. He said there is concern that there could be other problems with more rain predicted for later this week.

"If it rains pretty hard this weekend, there could be more," he said.

Residents were surprised to see the collapsed building, which appeared to have given way without warning. Eric Carpenter, who lives across the street, said the collapse may have happened just before he got home. He said by the time he arrived, the road was blocked off and he had to park down the street.

The owner of record of the three-family building is JP Morgan Chase Bank, which acquired it in 2007, according to city assessors' records. It is valued at $155,500.